title: Effect of pulse therapy with glucocorticoid and cyclophosphamide in lung fibrosis due to paraquat poisoning in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness of cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone pulse therapy in the prevention of pulmonary fibrosis due to paraquat poisoning in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was carried out in Sina Hospital, Tabriz, Iran, between February and August 2009. Acute poisoning in rats was induced by intraperitoneal injection of Paraquat (15 mg/kg). We planned 2 separate treatment groups (10 rats each), pulse therapy with methylprednisolone (26.5 mg/kg) and cyclophosphamide (15 mg/kg) intraperitoneally for 3 days (PQ+P) and treatment with conventional anti-oxidant drugs including vitamin A, vitamin E, and N-acetylcysteine (PQ+Vit). Prevention of pulmonary fibrosis was evaluated on the fifteenth day. A semi-quantitative determination of lung fibrosis was carried out (Ashcroft staging criteria) on the lung sections and results compared with the paraquat control group (PQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean score of fibrosis in the PQ was 4.60+/-1.20, in PQ+P was 2.93+/-0.72, and for PQ+Vit groups was 4.25+/-1.08. The score of fibrosis in the PQ+P was significantly lower than the PQ group (p=0.011), while there was no significant difference in the average score of lung fibrosis between the PQ and PQ+Vit groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pulse therapy with cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone significantly prevented pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, we recommend it along with conventional therapies in the treatment of acute paraquat poisoning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Toxicology and Nephrology Ward, Tuberculosis and Lung Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ghaffari
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Noshad
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ostadi
authors.forename: Nazila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hasanzadeh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010269:Paraquat / Q000506:poisoning*; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D010269:Paraquat